“Japanese investors are sprouting out of Japan more and more. They’re looking into Southeast Asia and North Asia,” Laboutka said during an interview in Tokyo. “We could be very selective.” He declined to say which companies had offered to invest.

Japanese companies looking for growth abroad range from the former government-owned monopoly Nippon Telegraph & Telephone to the nation’s top Internet conglomerates, SoftBank and Rakuten.

SoftBank, which made a coup by investing early in soon-to-list Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding, has been stepping up investments in ventures in Southeast Asia, South Korea, India and the U.S. Online shopping-mall operator Rakuten is launching a $100 million startup fund, up from the $10 million it set aside a year ago.

Laboutka said HotelQuickly was drawn to Gree’s experience operating mobile sites and its large team of app developers, as well as Gree’s knowledge of Japanese smartphone user tastes. Gree, in turn, was attracted by HotelQuickly’s operations in 12 markets around the Asia-Pacific region and its expertise in developing partnerships with hotels, said Gree Vice President Eiji Araki.

The Japanese company, which in May set up a new $50 million fund for Asian Internet companies, has been on a prowl for new revenue streams as users spend less on Gree’s in-game purchases. It hopes the relationship with HotelQuickly will help it expand the offerings of its Japanese last-minute booking service to 600 hotels around Japan, up from 130 now primarily in Tokyo.